Bobcats head to Las Vegas Summer League, begin play on Friday

Published: Thursday, July 11, 2013 at 02:23 PM.

CHARLOTTE – For the first time in Las Vegas Summer League history, an actual champion will be crowned through a playoff system.

But as new Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford was quick to point out Wednesday morning as his team completed a four-day camp before heading west, titles in July won’t mean a thing in October.

“Summer league is for development for me,” said Clifford, hired in May as the Bobcats’ sixth head coach in history. “There’s no correlation between playing well in the summer league and playing well in the season. Of course they’ll want to win and you’ll want to win because it’s the nature of what we do and we’re competitive.

“I just want us to go out and I want us to be organized and play the way that we play.”

Lots of eyes will be on rookie Cody Zeller and how he interacts with veterans Bismack Biyombo, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeffery Taylor along with the other players on the team’s 15-player roster.

“It’s definitely a big learning experience since there’s not a whole lot riding on the games,” said Zeller, who was chosen No. 4 overall in last month’s NBA Draft. “I’m just going to try and learn from each game and put it to work when the regular season begins.”

Zeller is expected to give the team multiple options on offense and defense – or what he’s already shown so far in camp.

CHARLOTTE – For the first time in Las Vegas Summer League history, an actual champion will be crowned through a playoff system.

But as new Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford was quick to point out Wednesday morning as his team completed a four-day camp before heading west, titles in July won’t mean a thing in October.

“Summer league is for development for me,” said Clifford, hired in May as the Bobcats’ sixth head coach in history. “There’s no correlation between playing well in the summer league and playing well in the season. Of course they’ll want to win and you’ll want to win because it’s the nature of what we do and we’re competitive.

“I just want us to go out and I want us to be organized and play the way that we play.”

Lots of eyes will be on rookie Cody Zeller and how he interacts with veterans Bismack Biyombo, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeffery Taylor along with the other players on the team’s 15-player roster.

“It’s definitely a big learning experience since there’s not a whole lot riding on the games,” said Zeller, who was chosen No. 4 overall in last month’s NBA Draft. “I’m just going to try and learn from each game and put it to work when the regular season begins.”

Zeller is expected to give the team multiple options on offense and defense – or what he’s already shown so far in camp.

“The biggest thing with Cody is what I thought we would see,” Clifford said. “It’s his ability to make teammates better on both ends of the floor. On offense, if he’s open, he shoots it. If he’s not, he moves it. On defense, he’s smart and he’s quick. He’s been good – really good. But you know I thought he would be.”

Veteran point guard Kemba Walker, who won’t be on the Las Vegas roster, came in to practice with the summer league hopefuls – a decision that pleased his new coach.

“For him to go through the whole thing and do all the drills is great for him and great for us,” Clifford said of Walker.

Zeller, Walker and all the players also have been given the opportunity to work individually with Clifford’s coaching staff of holdover Stephen Silas as well as newcomers Patrick Ewing, Mark Price, Bob Weiss and Bob Beyer.

“The big thing is that our four guys (Biyombo, Kidd-Gilchrist, Taylor and Zeller) will be on the floor as much as they can,” Clifford said. “That’s obviously why you do it. I like the way they’ve all practiced. Establishing a practice discipline is just as important as the games.

“I think their intensity has been good. Their attention to detail has been good. I think their effort has been good. I think their unselfishness on offense – which is hard to teach – has been good.”

You can reach Richard Walker at 704-869-1841 or by twitter.com/JRWalk22